THRIVE - Day Three

Yep, this is a day late, but that's what happens when you end the conference in Sacramento and drive like a mad man back across the Sierras to Carson Valley for the 4:30 service back home. :)

So, final day at Thrive. I was totally looking forward to hearing Ephrem Smith, having heard so much about him over the past year. I was jacked up. But I had one thing to do first.

I ended up in the Green Room backstage, once again thanks to my friend John Jackson, Executive Director of TCI and main dude for the Thrive Conference. Beth and I were back there for prayer before the session, then I got to say 'hey' to Pastor Smith. Over in the corner, sitting on the sectional with her husband Leif was Margaret Feinberg. As you might have read, I owed her an apology.

So I walked over, introduced my wife and myself, and told her that I owed her an apology. Her husband leaned forward, grin on his face, and said, "Unsolicited, this ought to be good!" I like Leif. Margaret looked surprised, but she motioned for me to sit down, and I began my apology.

I told her that I was not looking forward to her talk, that I was trying to be a good leader and set the example and pay attention, but nothing about her bio, her book titles, or her introduction made me want to hear what she was going to say. Then, she started in on her topic, which was from her book, Scouting The Divine. It was all about farming images from the Bible, like shepherds and sheep. I told her that I was a city kid that grew up on a farm and couldn't wait to leave. She laughed and understood. Then I told her that her words just broke me. I was moved by the description of how God knows our voices as distinctly as a shepherd knows the bleating of each individual sheep. God hears me when I cry to Him.

Then, as she rolled around to the time she spent with a vintner, learning about growing grapes, I lost it. She talked about how grapes needed bad soil, and how in some places, they will look at the soil around their grape vines and add more rocks. More rocks. After all the pruning, there would be fruit to make wine, but from initial planting to the first glass of wine will be way over a decade. I told her that the rocky places in my life and the pruning over the years were just slammed into perspective for me. I didn't tell her the specifics of cancer, meningitis, angry parishioners, hard transitions, relational struggles or financial setbacks, but each one was clearly in my mind when I told her that she helped me once again see God's hand in my life.

I thanked Margaret for her amazing words that touched my heart, even when I was not expecting them to. She was amazingly gracious, and Leif got up, went out and brought back the last copy of her book for her to sign and give me. I thanked them both profusely. We talked for about an hour, and had the best time. She's looking at a writing project and we brainstormed some ideas to help her talk to some folks she'd like to meet. Leif had a college roommate from Pocatello, so we talked about Poky stuff. Beth and I both tried to give them an easy way out of the conversation, in case they needed some time away from people, but they were happy to talk, so we did.

Finally, Leif looked over at my watch and asked what time it was. I told him, and they both jumped up in a panic. They were late leaving for the airport. Like really late. So Margaret hugged Beth and I, we exchanged info, and they bolted out the door.

In a bit of a daze, we walked out to sit through the last part of Ephrem's talk, and as he was bringing it home, it was once again the voice of the Holy Spirit confirming, pushing and encouraging me to lead ahead with the missional focus here at LifePoint. I was nodding my head and feeling my heart beat faster as he talked about serving in the community and making a difference to the vulnerable and overlooked in society. One more time, God is saying it loud and clear.

I'll give a final wrap later, but it was an amazing time, an amazing experience, and real confirmation of the calling and the direction of God in my life and at LifePoint Church.

Big thanks to Ray Johnston, John Jackson, David Harris and the gang at Thrive, Bayside and TCI. This was a great event, and done well.